This post is dedicated to (or blamed on) fellow Blogger, Wudugast and his recent terrain post Take Cover Part 3. Deep down on his post are a pair of hatches that are clearly from some sort of Necromunda-friendly kit. When I saw those, my “that would be quick and easy” sense perked up. I do like scenery bits that can be done simply like that.

But then it turned out that they’re from a set that I don’t yet own Citadel Ryza Ruins set.

But then I remembered that I have these – like the crates I posted a couple of days ago, I picked this set up in the 1990’s and have done literally nothing with them since. So I grabbed them out and painted them up. Naturally, they’re still available from Scotia Grendel. Funny thing was that the crates I finished a few days ago were in the same storage box that these hatches were in, and it was when I got these out that I got the crates out. Painted them after the hatches, but before the other stuff in this post was done. And three hatches hardly warrants a post, so they had to wait.

Actually, let’s take a quick aside now – I do now finally know what colour to paint the floors which was one of the reasons they’ve sat untouched for two decades – my custom Necromunda Blue mix. What about the lockers? Military Green? Bright Red? Muted Blue? Plain (weathered) Iron? I should probably try to get the rest of these painted in the next couple of months…

Almost last but not least, the sump-monster which lies in wait for unwary gangers. Another pair of models that got clipped, assembled and painted straight from seeing Wudugast’s post – I really liked his pale and sickly looking renditions of these tentacles, so I did something similar, though using a deep turquoise and an ivory with a slight yellowish tinge. They don’t look great in these photos, admittedly – they’ve come up a bit too stark here – not sure if the shiny gloss varnish on them is helping a lot with that, to be honest. The pic at the top looks a lot more true to how they look in hand.

Finally, there’s this thing. I’m not exactly sure what it is, or who made it. I got it with a whole lot of other secondhand stuff back in the 1990’s. I suspect that it was originally some homemade terrain that was cast, as it doesn’t have the fine detail of the other pieces I have from the same era, like the various Grendel pieces, or some of the other random bits I have that date back to the same period.

It was also cast in a pretty horrible yellow resin. As you can see, there’s quite a few holes and bubbles on the thing. Some of the black paint I’d spray-primed it with back int he day had even flaked off. It does look very much like a homemade piece, though – cobbled together from various household items in an interesting manner. I think that’s a highlighter pen lid on the side.

Anyway, I sprayed it with a beaten dark metal Krylon spray, drybrushed the thing in dark metallics, added my Necromunda Blue around the base, then considered adding some coloured metals and calling it a day – but then I had the bright idea of deciding to use it as an experimental piece for some of my GW scenery that I need to get working on properly. So it was time to break out the Vallejo Model Colour Iraqui Sand and Pale Sand, get chipping with Metal Black and Plate Mail Metal, get rusty with Rust Wash and get dirty and streaky with Dirt Brown Wash. The chipping medium that I added was a complete failure, as you can see. Or can’t see. I guess if I don’t mention it, you won’t know I tried to use it – but then, that’s what experimental pieces are for!

A few decals before the weathering, heavier damage where there were more bubbles and miscast resin bits, and another piece of terrain that’s been sitting around here for literally two decades is finally ready for the table. Better yet, a badly cast piece that seemed to flake the paint appears to be stable (thank you, Krylon!) and will now look quite decent on the tabletop. Sure, it still ain’t pretty. It’s still ugly. Could I do better with it? Sure – but I have better things to spend my time on than this badly-cast thing, so it’s very much “good enough”.

What’s this piece got to do with Wudugast? I spotted it sitting on a table as I moved from one place to another while varnishing the hatches – and because I’ve been doing scenery – thought: “I should paint that fucking thing.” So I did.

Goddamn it! Your work ethic is finally forcing me to post stuff on Talesofthelostgamer.com again. We’re playing Kill Team over here, so I guess it’s time to start posting the latest stuff that I’m working on. You are bad for the lazy photographer, sir!

Good stuff. I haven’t had much time to paint (and less for blogging and photography) lately, but always good to see others pick up the erm… blogging …stick?
That metaphor fell apart quickly.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing you posting and painting mate!
Surely you’ve got those last few Silver Tower miniatures done by now and need to show them off to the world?

Man, killing it with your Necromunda pieces there. I think Wudugast’s posts must have put ‘something in the water’ so to speak. It got me sparked up a bit too.

I like what you did with the Sump Monster tentacle. I had to go back and look at Wudu’s. I like the slimy sort of gloss on yours, but I also like his color palette. I don’t think I can pick a fave, they are both damned good. Going to be tough deciding on a color when I get around to them. Though I might have already prime them green…c’est la vie.

That machinery piece does remind me of those do-it-yourself mold kits. Maybe Mark Morin can identify it? Though it does look like a magnetic cabinet latch up top? So maybe it’s just home junk thrown together like you said. Colors wise, it would probably be perfect in a Star Wars Mos Eisley setup.

Those hatches are pretty awesome. I should invest in some for the Necromunda game too.

Yeah. I’ve got some more stuff that’s very close to completion now. Just need to finish a hatch, a man, some buttons, and some weathering powders. I doubt I’ll get much more than those done this month, since this last week is the final week of workmadness.
I think in a lot of ways Wudu’s does look better, though my photos are a bit crap and the lighting + gloss washes out some of the shading. Either way, sickly-pale sump-tentacle is a great idea of his, and I was quite happy to knock it off.
It’s clearly made from household objects, though to be fair it’s pretty good for what it is. This is from long before GW and others started filling the market with their carefully designed CAD-terrain creations.
I’m definitely going to add a bit of colout to my Necromunda/Kill Team/Hive World/Post-Apoc terrain. All-grey+metal+rust worlds can be done in a way to look good, but adding these hints of colour in really make them look a bit more “realistic” and help tables to look more visually appealing.

The Ryza Ruins set is pretty cool, but I think I like those hatches better. The unpainted stuff from that set looks pretty cool, too. My first impulse is that the lockers should be either a hideous brown or a hideous orange, but that’s just because those were the colours the lockers came in at my high school.

Wudugast got me convinced on the tentacle colour scheme thing, too. I think the gloss is messing with the photography here, but I like the bluish-white you’ve got going.

There are definitely some parts that look familiar on that last piece. I think the bit on the opposite side from the hi-lighter cap might be a wide-tip sharpie cap, and I feel like I’ve seen the base somewhere, either as packaging or a wiring junction box or something. It came out looking good, tho.

Ha! The ones at my school were that dull locker grey and that dull sort-of desaturated tan. You know, old-style-computer colour. I suppose those could be options as well. I haven’t thought of those lockers for years!
Yeah, the base looks like pakaging to me, too.
There was another piece I got with it. Some sort of techno-pole thing with an L-pipe coming out of it and going into the ground. I’ll have to see if I can find it and paint that as well, now. Or soon as I can find it, anwyay!

Great painting on the scenery, white and gloss varnish will make photographing very difficult, but as you say the top picture shows it better. The generator thing does look like a home cast, or start up company piece with the problems you describe, but your painting of it has made it look better.
with the lockers what about a graffiti look of the gang you use marking out their territory, just an idea

Thanks Dave. The generator thing is a perfect example of models that I dislike for whatever reason being something I’m quite satisfied with once they’re completed. Not that it’s an amazing piece, but I’ll now be quite happy to plonk it down on the table anytime.
Graffiti is a good idea, and I’ll definitely be incorporating it into future pieces (also, posters/handbills). I’ve got quite a few different gangs as well as Arbites, though – so I’m thinking of making the lockers really multi-purpose so that they could fit into whatever kind of Imperial Barracks, or even on board a Rogue Trader’s vessel.

A great post, the painted pieces look great. I am back playing Fallout 4 on the console. Those pieces remind me of some of the things found in the commonwealth. I thought the last piece was a scratchbuild. I reckon they made something and moulded it up.

Yeah definately. The only question (and not a particularly important one, just a curiosity) is whether they made it themselves or whether it was a sold piece. I’ve been playing Fallout myself so possibly some of that came through. No piles of tin cans, though!

Thanks Pete – and you’re close enough to Scotia Grendel that the postage shouldn’t be too bad.
Damn, they should be sending me stuff for free, given the amount of their stuff I’ve featured on this blog over the years and the number of people that have told me that they might pick some up… :p

Unpainted stuff from the 90’s, HA!!! Of course the 1970’s and 1980’s stuff I have comes from scrounging and casting!

I like the collection, and glad to see you getting some painting in for mental health’s sake if nothing else. Hope your work is better, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in painting 15mm tanks so I’m waaaay behind in blogging. Thanksgiving weekend sucks up a lot of time too.

I like the hatches and the tentacles, nicely done. I really like what you did with the last piece of homemade terrain you got second hand. I think it will work well on the tabletop. I’m the kind of guy who has amassed a weird collection of different mundane bits that I plan to use to make some terrain bits, just have not gotten to yet. Someday!

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